Attention grabbing.
Betty Jones & Sisters Publishing — a scholarly open-access publisher — launched recently with two journals. The unconventional name of this publisher isn’t the only strange thing about it.
The publisher does not explain its name, and there’s no description of Betty Jones or her supposed sisters. I think the name was contrived just to draw attention to the outfit.
The two journals are Journal of Mathematical Sciences and Journal of Earth Sciences. These are broad-scoped journals that cover fields already saturated with dozens of open-access journals. Additional journals are not needed in these fields and are mere noise.
Spam emails sent out by this publisher are signed by “Thomas Johnson,” not by Betty or any of her sisters. The publisher claims it’s based at 442 Court Street in Elko, Nevada, but a look at Google Maps street view for this address shows a small building that houses a law firm.
Worthless journals from a worthless publisher.
This is yet another amateurish, scholarly open-access publisher, one of many hundreds that are open for business today.
If the publisher’s strategy is to stand out and attract attention by means of the ridiculous name, I think the strategy will fail, for few respectable researchers will want to publish in journals from a publisher with such a silly and un-explained name.
Strangely, though, the Journal of Mathematical Sciences has published four issues so far. Could publishers like this one really herald the future of scholarly publishing?
Hat tip: An anonymous person who received a spam email from Betty.
